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Browsing by Subject "Informal Education"
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Item Creating Self-Awareness Of Learning That Occurs In Community(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Imel, Susan; Stein, DavidLearning that occurs in naturally forming communities can be more effective if those who engage in such groups are aware of it. Adult education practitioners who work with groups have an opportunity to assist group participants realize that learning occurs through engagement with issues of importance to them. Adults may consider learning to be knowledge acquisition, but the concept of social capital can be used to help them realize another level of learning. The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness among adult education practitioners about a potential role in furthering learning that occurs in naturally forming groups.Item Stories Of Privileged Women’s Learning Critical Perspectives(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Jung, HyeryungThe purpose of the study is to examine how White upper-middle class women have learned critical perspectives in unjust power relationships in the United States. To accomplish the purpose, I interviewed two female graduate students and used the method of narrative analysis. Their stories of learning critical perspectives shows that it is important to meet Others and mentors for concreting and crystallizing their critical perspectives, and that privileged people need to experience on-going struggles in order to break self from bias.Item Towards A Model Of Disability Disclosure(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Rocco, Tonette S.The model of relational development and decline in close relationships and selfdisclosure contains six agents: relational definition, time, attributional processes, liking, reciprocity, and goals. The purpose of the model is to describe the process of relationship development between peers. This phenomenology investigated disclosures between members of a minority group to a member of a majority group in the context of work. Each agent is discussed in terms of commonalities and differences between the agent and the experience of twelve participants with invisible disabilities interviewed. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires adults to disclose information about the disability, provide requested documentation, and suggest accommodations (P.L. 101-336). The responsibility to disclose and seek accommodations rests solely on the disabled person. This type of disclosure is made for the purpose of accommodation and access to educational institutions, materials, or formal learning opportunities. Disclosure for accommodation most often occurs in formal learning situations such as training programs. Disabled people are expected by able-bodied co-workers to explain the nature and/or ramifications of their disability. Our workplaces become places of risk for disabled people when considering whether to disclose or not and how much information is appropriate (Dycke, 1999). Once disability status is disclosed, a person with invisible disabilities (could pass as an able-bodied person) becomes suspect and future interactions may be tainted (Rocco, 1997). While the disclosure experiences of people with visible disabilities are quite different (Rocco, 2001). Disclosure occurs in adult education and workplace settings by adults with and without disabilities for relationship development. Relationships between co-workers are important for informal learning to occur. Informal learning occurs in natural settings, which have the “potential for learning and in fact organize our learning” (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 396, italics in original). In contrast to self-directed learning projects initiated by the learner, informal learning at work can be initiated or facilitated by the co-worker with the knowledge or by the employee in need of the knowledge. The way the disclosure is received, perceived, and acted on can make a difference in how the adult will approach a new learning situation at work, seek mentoring or other work relationships (Chelune, 1979). The question is how does disability disclosure between co-workers affect informal learning opportunities between coworkers that enable new employees or employees new to a department or position to learn their jobs in work groups, through mentoring, in informal non structured on the job training, or simply by interacting around a water cooler. Informal learning, non-structured on the job training, mentoring (whether formal or not), learning in organizations such as work groups, all of these forms of learning or structures to facilitate learning involve relationships between people. Relationships develop through personal disclosures, which can include information about one’s experience and knowledge gained through work or outside of work. Individuals from minority groups find themselves in the position of having to explain their experience or teach a person from a dominant cultural group.Item The Work, The Worker And The Machine: Learning Through Communities Of Practice In Manufacturing(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Brockman, Julie L.; Dirkx, John M.This study examined the learning process associated with problem solving contexts among manufacturing workers. Using a modified critical incident method, we interviewed twenty machine operators from three organizations about problems they encountered in work. The findings suggest that learning is mediated through a triadic, dialogical relationship of the worker, the work, and his or her machine. The ongoing process of becoming a machine operator is embedded in these relationships and within a broader community of practice. Recent changes in the nature of work and the workplace are renewing emphasis on workrelated learning. Many of these changes are being implemented to help organizations remain competitive. Organizations are using formal training programs to help their workers address this need. As Rowden (1966), suggests, “a literate, educated, inquisitive, problem solving workforce is essential to the survival and competitiveness of business and industry” (p.3). The U.S. industry spends more than $120 billion annually on formal training programs and related costs (Day, 1998). Yet, the effectiveness of such training programs remains in question. Only a small minority of workers regard the knowledge and skills they gained through employers’ training programs as important (Livingstone, 2001). Furthermore, craftsman, laborers and operators are not able to use their skills and abilities within their work and are dissatisfied with opportunities to improve their skills (NRC, 1999; Freeman, 1999). Such studies raise questions about the applicability of formal workplace education and training to what it is that workers need to know. Nowhere is this problem more evident than in the relatively new area of training for problem solving among front line manufacturing workers. As the limitations of formal training for problem solving have become increasingly apparent, more attention has turned to informal learning in the workplace and the role that the work context itself plays in developing requisite knowledge and skills among manufacturing workers. In this study, we focus on workers’ experiences of problems within the context of their work and how these contexts foster their learning and development.